The Northern Sky

by DashTillDawn

The Surprising Reveal

Though we had no clue who this strange stallion was, we were the ones who saved him, and we felt obligated to stay and see how he fares. Twilight and I waited for hours, but got still got no word from the doctors or nurses.

Finally, as the sun began to set outside, a doctor came through the doors, and approached us. His expression told us that he was bringing bad news, but what he had to say was actually the opposite.

"His body temperature is dangerously low, but he's showing no signs of hypothermia. We ran every test we could think of, but he seems fine. How did you say you two knew him?"

"He's a friend of ours. He was out in the frozen wasteland beyond the city's borders for too long." I said, recalling the story I told the receptionist. It was best to keep one lie, than to make up any new ones, and get caught in your own web.

"We're keeping a close eye on him, but we'll allow visitors. He's down that hall, in room seven."

"Thank you." Twilight said, as we stood, and made our way to the room.

As we pushed the door open, a nurse walked out.

"He's just starting to wake up. It would be nice if you two were the first ponies he sees, to help him cope." She told us.

We entered, and took seats beside the bed. The covers had been rustled, showing that he had been moving. We sat for about thirty minutes before anything happened. He began to stir, and cracked his eyes open. When he registered that he was in a hospital, he tried to sit up, but failed. He let out a grunt, and turned to us.

"What... what happened?"

"We found you in a cave a few miles from here. You were buried in snow, and freezing cold." Twilight told him, not at all trying to sugarcoat what had happened.

"Buried? How long was I out?"

"We don't really have an answer for that."

"Wait, a few miles from here? Where are we? Those caves were in the middle of nowhere."

"No, they're just a few miles outside of the Crystal Empire." Twilight couldn't be making her answers any more blunt.

"The what? What the heck is the Crystal Empire?"

I beat Twilight to the answer, this time. I didn't want him assuming that we thought he was stupid or anything.

"We're in the Crystal Empire right now. Maybe it wasn't around when you went into those caves."

"It wasn't."

"Then we know you've been down there for at least a few years, because the Crystal Empire only recently returned. Can you tell us what you were doing down there, mister...?"

"Ah, I haven't even told you my name yet. I'm Northern Sky, but most of my friends just know me as North. I was in those caves to find an artifact before my brother did."

"Well, I'm Starlight Glimmer, and this is Twilight Sparkle." I informed him. Twilight waved, and he nodded back. "Why didn't you want your brother to get that artifact?"

"My brother- Midnight Sky- had told me that it had some secret power, and he was going to use it to take over Equestria. I couldn't bring myself to turn him in, so I tried to get to it before he did."

"Did you?"

"No, but I'm guessing he didn't find it either, as we're still sitting here."

Just then, a nurse came in with a thermometer. She took his temperature, and went pale when she read it.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"It's remarkable. Your friend shouldn't even be alive right now. He doesn't have a body temperature."

Looking concerned, North looked to the nurse.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You don't even have enough heat to move the thermometer. You are at a total body temperature of zero, or less."

We could still feel the cold radiating from him, like we did when we rushed him here. I hadn't paid mind to it until now.

"It's as if your body adapted to the cold, instead of being frozen by it. You don't show any negative symptoms, either." She told him.

"What are you going to do?" He inquired.

"Since you don't seem to be negatively impacted at all, there's really nothing we can do. I suppose you're ready for release." Then she left, so we resumed our conversation.

"We can go back out to those cave, to try and find this artifact, if you want."

"That would be smart. Just let me climb out of this darn bed." He said.

As he clambered out of the bed, I thought I caught a glimpse of a wing from under his gray coat, but that wouldn't make any sense. While he was putting on his saddle bags, I asked about it.

"I think you may have a mark on your fur, just under that coat."

He lifted his coat to try and find the fake mark. When I got a clear view of his wings, I turned to Twilight. She was just as surprised as I was. I managed to stutter the first words.

"Are- are you- are you an alicorn?"

"Yeah... why is that so surprising?"

"I thought there were only five alicorns?"

"No, there's a ton of them." He said, until what my words implied began to set in. "Or... there used to be. Did something happen? Who are the five alicorns you know of?"

"I don't know if anything happened, but Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Flurry Heart, and Twilight here are all the alicorns in Equestria. Except you."

"Celestia and Luna! They passed?! Maybe they can tell me what's going on."

"Passed what?"

"The tests, of course! They passed the tests, and became alicorns."

"You knew them before they were alicorns?"

"Sure! I mean, we weren't friends, but we talked enough to know each other's names."

"I think we know how long you were down in that ice now." I prepared to break the bad news to him.

"A few years, you said. Remember?"

"I was partially right. It was a few thousand years."

These words must have hit him hard, as he stopped moving. I thought he might have died from shock, but he was still breathing. Slowly, he looked back at me.

"A few thousand years? Forget the artifact, I need to see Celestia and Luna now."